Sheldon, Iowa — There’s going to be a “Food Summit” in Sheldon on Thursday.
What’s a food summit? The extension service says food producers, consumers, community leaders, gardeners, cooks and anyone with an interest in local foods are invited to attend the free event. Extension specialist Margaret Murphy tells us more.
She says “Flavors of Northwest Iowa” is basically focused on smaller farms that for the most part sell directly to the consumer.
She says at the 2013 summit, they identified some short and long-term top priorities.
Again, the summit runs from 8:30 AM until 12:30 PM at Northwest Iowa Community College. It will feature guest speaker Lynn Heuss, assistant coordinator for the ISU Extension and Outreach local food and farm program, discussing funding opportunities, the farm bill and the collective impact method for coalition building.
ISU Extension and Outreach Regional Food Coordinators Margaret Murphy and Laurie Taylor will be on hand, as well as Craig Tordsen from ISU Extension and Outreach’s Value Added Agriculture program. There will be a review and discussion of the regional action plan, roundtable discussions, and information and resources available to attendees.
Murphy says they really want to hear from local stakeholders as to how things are going and what more can be done to promote locally-grown foods.
For more information, contact the Woodbury or Lyon County extension offices at 712-276-2157 or 712-472-2576. More information can also be found at www.flavorsofnorthwestiowa.org. They do request that you pre-register by Tuesday, January 27th.
If your browser or device cannot access the audio players above, here are the direct links to the audio sound bytes:
Cut 1
Cut 2
